Lillie's tale
by valnarian
Summary: Slightly Au story of my Dragonborn. Will be some explicit scenes, language and so on. Main character is 3/4 Mer with a dash of Nord for good measure. Some OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Prelude

"Lillie" a tired voice whispered in the early morning air

"I'm here my love"

"I feel cold Lil."

Lillie held her wife of 40 years closer to her body. This day had been coming for a while, Brinya had held on as long as she could, but age had finally caught up with the Nord beauty. Lillie felt her tears fall as she watched her wife slowly begin to die. She held Brinya's weathered face in her still pristine hands and gently kissed away her wife's tears. Once again she remembered the words of her parents after they had met Brinya decades ago.

"She's human Lilliearnna. She'll grow old and die before you even begin to show age. It will hurt you more than you can realize my daughter. Are you sure about this?" her father, Galean was a half Nord, half Dunmer while her mother Dalianne was pure Bosmer. The full weight of her mixed blood had not been felt by her until now. She was only 195, still rather young by Mer standards, but the last 40 years of her life had been an eternity of love and happiness, she understood now her father's words. There was a reason mixed bloods rarely bonded with non mer. That reason was painfully apparent now.

"It's ok Bri, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere my love."

"I love you Lil, but we both know what is happening. I'm not long now; I can feel it coming my love"

Lillie's vision blurred as the tears returned in full force at her wife's words. Brinya lifted up a tired, elderly hand and wiped away the tears of her beloved with a shaky finger. "Don't mourn for me Lil, we had 40 amazing years together. I have been blessed with the love of an extraordinary woman," brinya's voice descended into a coughing fit as she tried to continue.

"Hush Bri, you're not going anywhere. " Lil tried to be brave, but she had never truly been this frightened in her life, even during the horrors of the battle of the Red Ring, she had not felt this level of fear. "I love you Brinya, with all my heart and soul. I won't let you go anywhere"

Another coughing fit wracked Brinya's elderly body. She was surprised she had lived for 70 years, most Nords barely reached 50. But then again she had an amazing reason to stay alive this long. But her time was up, she knew it and so did Lillie. Her wife always was stubborn though, it would be just like her to refuse to let The Nine claim Brinya for peaceful rest.

"We don't have a choice my love. My time has come and gone. I'm at peace now with my life ending"

"I'm not" Lillie flatly stated

"You don't have a choice any more than I do my love." Brinya held her wife's gaze. She lost herself once again in the light hazel of her wife's gorgeous eyes." Promise me one thing before I pass into Dibella's arms my love."

"Anything Bri"

"Promise me you will find love again. Don't end up alone for your long life my love. Live, love and be happy again" Brinya stared into her wife's tear clouded eyes and waited

"I… I promise my love." Lillie eventually whispered.

"Good." Brinya's eyes fluttered closed and her breathing became even more labored as she approached her death

"Bri… please" Lillie begged

"I … love… you … Lilliearnna" Brinya whispered with the last of her strength

"I love you too Brinya" returned Lillie as she gently kissed her wife's cooling lips. Seeing that Brinya no longer drew breath, Lillie closed Brinya's eyes and let loose a wail of grief at the top of her voice. The sound of her loss was heard throughout her Manor estate in the Rift. Guards bowed their heads briefly and whispered farewell to Brinya, many wept at the death of their Mistress's wife. Brinya was beloved by the entire house staff, she was kind and loving to all. She never treated them as servants, she always had a gentle word of encouragement and respect for anyone who needed it. Her death left a gaping hole in the people who called the estate home. Now they silently stood watch as Brinya's spirit returned to Dibella's embrace. A few whispered prayers for the lost woman. Many just wished her soul peace. All would feel the grief in the days to come though.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

6 Months later

Lillie stood before the grave of her wife. She had spent the last half year in mourning, barely leaving her manor or talking to anyone but Narlyna, her Steward. Now, however it was time for her to honour her promise to Brinya and get on with her life.

"Hey Bri," Lillie stumbled through her greeting to Brinya's tomb.

"I know I promised to live, and I'm sorry it took a while for me to remember my promise to you." Lillie's vision blurred as she stood before the grave. "I miss you so much my love. Every morning I wake up reaching for you still. I can still feel your lips on mine if I try hard enough." Her breathing hitched as she fought back the burning grief that still haunted her every day.

"Gods, I miss you so much my love. There have been times when I wanted to join you, times when I didn't think I could continue without you. Narlyna has been my strength though. She reminded me last night of my promise to you, she told me how pissed you would be if I just wallowed in grief and let the world pass me by." A choked sob escaped her lips as she gazed at the carved image of her late wife. Lillie reached a trembling hand to the stone image of the face she had loved for 40 years, a fresh surge of tears flowed down her bruised cheeks.

"I'm going to visit Balgruuf for a while, spend some time with some old friends, and share in each other's grief. I won't be able to come and sit and talk with you for a while my love, so I thought I would come and let you know."

Narlyna watched her Mistress from the porch of the manor house. She felt for the woman, the death of Brinya had hit the entire house hard, but Lady Lilliearnna had been drowning in grief for far too long. It had fallen to her to remind Lillie of the promise she had made. Narlyna had known both women before they married and loved them like sisters. She had mourned Brinya and had accepted her passing. She also knew and understood the cost of a long life. She was a Bosmer, like Lillie's mother and had herself fallen in love with a human. He had died during the War, a Thalmor blade had spitted him and he had died, alone in a field of slaughter. The last six months had seen her duties expanded to include the nursing of Lillie back to a state resembling normalcy. The journey to Whiterun was her idea and she was glad that Lillie had so readily agreed.

As Lillie kissed the stone relief of her late wife Narlyna sighed. She hated to see her Mistress in such a state, but a few weeks away from the Manor would do her good. She knew Lillie well enough to know that she would also take the opportunity to "cleanse" a few places along the trip. The House agents had reported an increase in bandit activity along the path her Mistress would take, and to her complete lack of surprise Lillie was heavily armoured and well-armed. She had refused an escort of guards, she really didn't need the help and they would be better off protecting the estate and the farms surrounding it, seeing as the Riften guards were too busy counting Maven's gold.

o0o0o0o0o0

Lillie shield bashed another bandit scum to death. She was losing count of the numbers, but her count was high. She had been attacked by the idiots as she passed Faldar's Tooth and had decided to return the favour, as it were, by assaulting them head on. After a few hours of random fights with woefully inadequate scum she had finally reached the leaders lair. The two of them had circled each other for a few moments, then reinforcements had come rushing up the stairs. Naturally the chief thought he now had the upper hand, but as she casually crushed the last bandits face, he realized just how deadly she was. With his great sword held high and far too back to bring to bear quickly he charged straight at her. She skipped into his space and dismissively broke his nose with the boss of her shield. The idiot crumpled to the ground, dropping his sword and begging for mercy from the black haired figure of death that had invaded his keep. For her part Lillie just smacked him again and bound his unconscious form to a sturdy beam while she read his journal.

It took a pail of stale night soil to awaken the scum, but she was glad she read his journal. The things he gleefully described had enraged her, and now she was going to ensure that the hell she sent him to would seem like paradise compared to what he was about to endure. The bastard had kidnapped, tortured and murdered innocents, mostly women. He had happily written down their sobbing pleas for mercy as he raped and beat them, he had even written, in horrifying detail, of how he kidnapped teenage girls and shared them with his men before tossing them to his dogs for sport. He was going to have a long slow death she vowed.

In the end it took five hours for the scum to die. Nearly two centuries of a life filled with battles had taught Lillie a few nasty tricks for causing pain in a victim and she had used them all on this fucker. He had screamed as she slowly inserted rusted, barbed wire into his nethers, he had begged incoherently when she began to flay him with her axe. All through his torture, her resolve never faltered. There was no one to help him, no one to come to his rescue and she intended for him to feel every last moment of agony. Finally, she had relented and threw his bleeding, broken body to the dogs below. She stood and watched as the pit dogs used him for sport, they tore at his flesh, his howls of pain sounding like the sweetest music to her. She watched a rather large ice wolf tear out his throat in a spray of crimson and sighed as the scum died all too soon.

o0o0o0o0o

Packing up her meagre campsite, Lillie continued on with her journey through the mountain pass to Helgen and then Whiterun. She could have easily afforded a carriage, but she enjoyed the fresh air and exercise of the walk to visit her old friends. Her ears perked up at the sound of combat not far from her position. Lillie carefully hefted her orc axe and shield and slowly climbed the path, keeping an eye out for the battle ahead. When she crested a rise in the mountain path she was met with a brutal fight between Imperials and Stormcloaks. She despised the rebels for what they were doing to Skyrim, but she was yet to actively take a side in the war. Even when her old Legate, now General Tulius had practically begged her to help the Empire. Her concern back then was for Bri, but now she felt no restraint as she let out a shrieking war cry and joined the combat below.

Ulfgar heard the banshee call and felt the cold fingers of death rake his spine as he saw a stranger fly into the melee. The woman was a blur of death as he watched her grow ever closer. In the last moments of his life he swore time seemed to slow down and he heard the strange woman laughing gleefully as she carved a bloody path through his fellow true Nords. His last thoughts were of how beautiful this woman was, right before the gore smeared axe descended into his skull ending his 23 years of life.

In a few moments the battle was over and the surviving Imperials looked at the stranger who had come to their aid. Before her timely intervention the situation was grim, they were outnumbered and badly wounded from a previous battle with another rebel patrol. Then, like the sound of the Gods this woman had come to their aid with a howling war cry. Legate Rikke walked over to where the stranger was tending to the few wounded, "My thanks for your aid stranger."

"Anytime Legate." Lillie didn't really want to waste time here, sunset was only a few hours away and she wanted to reach Helgen before dark.

"You know the Legion could do with a warrior like you ma'am"

Lillie stood up and turned to face this young officer. "Legate, I have already aided the Legion more than you could ever know. I've done my 25, and more than that. Tell Tulius that Lilliearnna says hello and to try to stay alive" With that Lillie picked up her shield and axe and began the trek to Helgen.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As she came into sight of Helgen, Lillie saw columns of smoke rising above the walls. At first she thought that the Stormcloaks had ransacked the town, but as she sprinted to the closed gates a figure from legend rose on black wings. Lillie stopped dead in her tracks, "Fuck me a dragon?" she swore and resumed her sprint to the town to see if she could aid any survivors. As she entered she was instantly met with the disturbing aroma of burnt flesh and wood smoke, Lillie swallowed back the bile in her throat as she took in the devastation. As she carefully searched through ruined buildings she gradually became aware of the sound of someone moaning in pain. Finding the survivor wasn't too difficult, her Mer blood had given her sharper senses than a human after all, and as she rounded the corner into the small Imperial compound she saw a familiar young man curled up in agony.

"Hadvar!" she called as she sprinted to the Nord

"Lady Lilliearnna?" Hadvar responded weakly.

"Aye laddie, lay still and let me see what I can do to help." Lillie gently laid her hands on the more serious wounds of Hadvar, her healing magic flowed through her easily and colour slowly returned to the man's features.

"My thanks Lady Lilliearnna." Hadvar groaned as he sat in a more comfortable position now that he wasn't about to enter Sovangarde. "Why are you here?" he asked her

"I was on my way to Whiterun to see Balgruuf. I needed some time away." Lillie replied as she carefully began to heal his minor wounds.

"Where's Brinya?" Hadvar asked through clenched teeth

"She passed six months ago Hadvar, she was 70 you know"

"My apologies my Lady. I am sorry to hear that." Lillie looked at Hadvar's face and saw genuine concern in his young features. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here my Lady. You saved my life again"

"That first time wasn't really serious Hadvar, you and Ralof were roughhousing, as 10 year old boys do and you got a little scratch. Now come on and let's get you into a bed for the night. We both need to sleep"

"I'll rest when we get to Riverwood my Lady. We have to warn Uncle about the Dragon." Hadvar refused her offer of a hand up, instead he grimaced as he painfully pushed himself upright, swaying a bit on his feet.

"Hadvar, you are in no state to go through the woods at night."

"Nevertheless, someone has to warn them my Lady. We have to get there as soon as possible."

Sighing in defeat at the stubbornness of men, Lillie offered her arm to Hadvar and helped him gain a steadier footing, "Ok you stubborn young Nord, I'll come with you if that will keep you alive. But be warned young man no heroics. Am I understood?"

Hadvar smiled at Lillie's tone, he had known her all his life, her random visits to Riverwood when he was a boy were always fun she had a protective streak a mile wide for those she cared for, but that never stopped here from dishing out the punishments either. Even his Uncle feared the wrath of the deceptively slender woman. "Understood Lady Lilliearnna." He smirked back

o0o0o0o0o0o

Alvor had been surprised to see Lilliearnna in Riverwood, and even more shocked when he saw the state of his nephew. After a brief discussion with Alvor and Sigrid Lillie had finally relented to spending the night in their house. It was comforting to the half elf to spend time with the family she had known for decades, their love and comfort gave her some peace from the events of the last six months. As she sat out on the porch and watched the night sky it was Sigrid who asked the inevitable "How are you Lillie? Hadvar told us about Brinya, we're so sorry my Lady" Sigrid wrapped her arms around Lillie and held her closely while Lillie silently wept.

"I'm doing better with every day Sigrid, but thank you for asking. She would have loved to have seen that dragon you know. I can still feel her presence everywhere I go, I still expect to see her face when I awake every morning" Lillie wiped away the tears and looked at the Nord woman. "Dorthe has grown so much, you and Alvor must be proud"

"We are Lillie. So what do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to have to see Balgruuf now. In the morning I'll head off to Whiterun and let him know you need help here. I'll see if I can convince that twit Proventus to send aid as well." Sigrid snorted at Lillie's casual description of the Steward. She was right, but the smirk in her voice lent it some humour. "For the moment, I think I might just sit and enjoy the stars for a while."

"Ok Lillie has a good night my Lady, and thank you for getting Hadvar out alive."

"My pleasure Sigrid."

Lillie turned her attention back to the night sky and thought again of her lost wife. "You would have been amazed my love, a real life dragon! Hadvar is ok, he'll have some new scars, but he'll make it. Dorthe is growing fast too; she'll be a real beauty you'll see. Anyway my love, I should get some sleep, been a long day. I miss you Bri, I love you". Lillie held the small locket around her neck and smiled distantly, a single lock of Brinya's golden hair rested inside; a tiny spell preserved its scent and lustre so that she would always have a part of her wife with her wherever she went. She carefully raised it to her lips and gave it a single kiss before she returned indoors and tried to sleep.

The trip to Whiterun was uneventful for Lilliearnna. She left just after dawn and took a leisurely pace along the cobbled road. The single wolf attack didn't even slow down her pace as she casually cracked its skull with her shield. The guard at the gates of Whiterun was a different manner altogether. Like all of his kind, he had posted to the gates because of his inflated ego and self-worth. Lillie briefly considering freezing him with a paralysis spell, but decided that Balgruuf wouldn't appreciate that. Eventually the Commander of the guard turned up, recognizing Lilliearnna immediately he rushed her through the gatehouse, snarling a rebuke at the stunned thug.

The Commander couldn't stop apologizing the entire way to Dragonsreach, Lillie tried to tell him it was ok, but he was having none of it. The twit on the gate had personally insulted a friend of the Jarl and would be punished accordingly. Once again she tried to tell the Commander it was ok, it was nothing she hadn't heard before but before she could continue, he held up a hand and looked at her. "My Lady, every guard has a list of those who the Jarl considers friend of Whiterun. Your name and description is at the top of that list. For that little fucker to call you a half blood whore, to your face, is a grave breach of protocol that will not be tolerated under the Jarl's banner. Believe me when I say that I am personally insulted that he said that to you, and I will ensure that he learns the error of his ways"

Lillie just smiled at the Commander and nodded in reply. In truth she had been called far far worse than half blood whore in her life, the young Nords bigotry hadn't even registered as far as she was concerned. But the Commander was correct in that it reflected badly on the Jarl and had to be dealt with. Wishing to put it all behind her, she pressed on into the Jarls palace.

Lillie opened the great doors of Dragonsreach to a scene of controlled chaos. Courtiers were running around in confusion, Hrongar and Proventus were having a heated argument in front of Balgruuf, while Irileth watched on in detached annoyance. No one noticed her entrance until she reached the fire pit before Balgruuf's throne. Irileth strode up to her and embraced her old friend, "Lilliearnna, I was so sad to hear about Brinya, how are you?"

"Thank you Iri, I will be fine eventually, but that is not why I am here. Can I speak to him?" Lillie asked quietly. She never intruded upon Balgruufs' court. To do so would undermine his authority in the hold and she had too much respect for the surly Nord to do such a thing. Lillie also knew that Irileth took her job exceptionally seriously. The safety of Balgruuf was always paramount in the Dunmer's mind and so Lillie chose to respect Irileth's position in the hold.

"Of course Lady Lilliearnna. What news do you bring Jarl Balgruuf?"

"I was at Helgen Iri. I saw the dragon leave as I arrived. I was hoping to get aid for Riverwood as well, Alvor and Gerdur are very worried about the defense of the village."

"Come on then he'll definitely want to hear this." Irileth led her old friend to Balgruuf's dias and cleared her throat noisily, "My Jarl, Lady Lilliearnna wishes to speak with you" Irileth intoned, rather unnecessarily in Lillie's opinion, but it did stop the two squabbling men.

Jarl Balgruuf cast his gaze over the woman he had known his entire life. Lilliearnna had been his tutor in the manners of courtly behavior while he grew up in Dragonsreach, she had fought the Great War beside him, she had stood at his side as he laid his beloved wife to rest and had helped him mourn her untimely passing. If she wanted a moment of his time, she would get it.

"My Jarl, Helgen was destroyed by a dragon. I saw the beast fly off towards Riverwood after it turned the town to ruin."

Balgruuf just stared t Lillie, "I told you Proventus, Irileth send some men and supplies to Riverwood at once, I'll not let my people suffer. After the housecarl had departed, Balgruuf motioned Lillie to come forward, "My Lady why don't we go and speak in private?"

Balgruuf and Lillie made their way to the Great Porch and shared a few moments of quiet. "I am saddened to hear of Brinya's passing my Lady. It reminded me of my wife's passing. If you need to talk I am here for you." Balgruuf placed an arm around the slender shoulders of the woman he considered to be a close friend and trusted advisor.

"Thank you Balgruuf, I had originally intended to come and visit for a while, but, things change don't they?"

"That they do my friend." Balgruuf nervously cleared his throat and looked at his feet.

"Spit it out Balgruuf, you've no reason to be embarrassed around me. I still remember changing your diapers old man" Lillie smirked at the Jarl.

"I need a favour Lady Lilliearnna" Crap thought Lillie, when he says that I'm in it

"What do you need Balgruuf?"

"Farengar needs someone to find a tablet that is lost in the Barrow. I was hoping to get the Companions to retrieve it, but,…"

"You want me to go into a draugr filled barrow and find some dusty old tablet for the charlatan?"

"Farengar isn't a charlatan Lillie" the old argument had long ceased being hostile. Balgruuf knew that Lillie had little to no respect for his court wizard. Farengar seemed rather reluctant to use any magic for the Jarl and Lillie had often teased him about his less than spectacular skills whenever she could.

"I won't do it for him Balgruuf. But for you I will. Bear in mind that I loathe getting all dirty, and if there are spiders in there I will not be happy"

"Thank you my friend, you're one of the few I can trust to do this for me."

o0o0o0o0o

Lillie was _pissed_. After hacking apart a handful of incompetent bandits, she was face to face with a fuck off big spider. Balgruuf was going to hear about this she mumbled to herself as she dodged yet another wad of venom. "Ewww, you disgusting thing. " Lillie had sheathed her axe against this thing, instead she sent fireball after fireball at the spider. After nearly exhausting her energy, it crumpled to the ground. Only then did she pay any attention to the idiotic bandit tangled in the webbing. She didn't even wait to hear anything from him, she just blasted the webs with a fireball, and not so accidentally killed the Dunmer thief. Retrieving the claw, and a small amount of gold she read through his journal. The puzzle was embarrassingly simple for her to solve, even without the hint in the useless journal, as with the few claws she had uncovered in her adventures, the solution to the puzzle was engraved on the claw itself.

The draugr that greeted her wee the usual easy kill. Well easy for someone that had over a century of experience in combat anyway. When she finally reached the puzzle door she sighed in annoyance, "Could they have least made it a challenge?" turning the dials to the correct combination was embarrassingly simple and she strode through into a remarkably well lit cavern with a burial wall at the back.

Lillie could hear a soft chanting as she approached the dias in front of the wall, coming closer to the old engravings to see who was buried there she noticed that a few runes were almost calling to her. Puzzled at the sudden urge to investigate closer she reluctantly stepped up to the odd section of the wall and felt a searing pain burn into her head. She struggled to remain conscious, only to fall in a heap at the base of the wall as blackness overtook her.

Lillie groaned as consciousness reluctantly came back to her. She didn't know how long she was out, but the light in the cavern had noticeably dimmed. She could hear a single word repeating itself in the back of her mind _Fus_ it kept saying. She had no idea what had happened, for all she knew she had unknowingly activated an ancient trap. She was starting to search the cavern for the charlatan's precious tablet when a grating sound caught her attention. Turning around slowly she saw a draugr lord staring at her balefully. His eyes glowed an unnatural blue, "oh fuck me sideways" she said right before she was blasted back into the wall by the things shout.

"Right fucker, it's on" Lillie shouldered her shield and charged the undead abomination before it could shout at her again. Her axe carved furrows in its armour, but it still wouldn't die. As the draugr let out another shout Lillie was once again pushed back into the wall, although this time she was braced for the onslaught it still knocked the wind out of her. Just as she picked herself up again the draugr unsheathed its enchanted axe and shuffled to her.

"Ok fucker, now you die" She held nothing back from the undead monster. She poured her magic into her hands as she wielded axe and shield as one. She bashed the face in with a magically enhanced blow causing the draugr to stumble backwards. Seizing the opportunity, Lillie advanced on her relentless foe and swung the now flame coated axe directly at the face of the draugr. Grunting at the impact, she buried the axe's smile deep into its face and watched in satisfaction as it finally crumpled dead.

After digging through the disgusting debris at the bottom of the coffin, a fact that she would make Farengar pay for, she finally found his precious tablet. Stumbling out of the cave, exhausted and wounded she promptly sat down on a stone ledge and spent the next few minutes creating new and ever increasingly obscene acts that Farengar could perform upon himself.


End file.
